Shotgun season for deer hunting begins Monday, Nov. 30 in Massachusetts, and state officials are encouraging hunters to register their take online this year instead of bringing it to a check-in station.

When deer hunting season on Martha’s Vineyard begins Oct. 5, so will the venison donation program. Coordinated by Island Grown Initiative, the agricultural society and the tick-borne illness prevention program, the system allows hunters to donate surplus meat that will go to feed hungry Islanders.

Marking a record year, Martha’s Vineyard hunters took 1,132 deer in 2019, according to state numbers released this week.

As deer hunting season nears an end, some Island hunters are raising concerns about the health of the herd this year, reporting they are finding deer that appear to be malnourished and struggling.

Six fawns have been found on Martha’s Vineyard suffering from a mysterious paralysis, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed.

Numbers were up as the two-week shotgun season for deer neared the halfway mark Friday.

The shotgun season for deer hunting opens today and runs for the next two weeks. Hunters will be out on public lands, including the state forest.

In an effort to cull the deer population, reduce tick-borne illness and provide meat to those in need, a number of Island organizations have joined forces.

As part of an ongoing effort to reduce the incidence of tick-borne illness, bow hunters on Martha’s Vineyard this year will be offered a monetary incentive to take additional female deer.

About 190 deer were checked in at the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest check in station during the first week of deer shotgun season this year.